At Triple Green Jade Farm, we too have been busy in and among the fields, in the garden and in the garage and soon-to-be “breadery.”

Hitting the Hay

In early July we got the first cut of hay in.

67 round bales from the main fields and more areas got brushed hogged in preparation for 2nd cutting later in August.

A lack of rainfall hasn’t seemed to affect the pasture that much.

The fields are slowly growing tall and greening up nicely now.

I suppose this is a benefit in having clay soils in a season plagued by dry conditions.

Digging the Dirt

I was pleasantly surprised by the results of our recent soil test and the amount of organic matter and elements.

Here is a sample:

Our organic matter was highest in the Kingsbury silty clay loam soils out of the 3 tested.

This is also the soil type most predominant in our fields.

The Claverack field was the only one given recommendations for adding lime in order to increase the soil PH.

The recommendations to improve yield and plant quality all pointed to adding more Nitrogen (N) and Phosphorous (P) in subsequent years.

Organic animal manures, which are both high in N & P, would be appropriate here and are the added benefit of grazing livestock.

Having cows, chickens and possibly sheep in our plans for next year in a rotational grazing set-up will greatly benefit our soil fertility and health.

I’ve used a little bit of it in my raised bed gardens, but the compost we now have after cleaning out our barn and having my neighbor till and turn the pile with his backhoe, would also be nice to spread on the pastures as well.